IBM Cloud Push Notifications Android SDK

The IBM Cloud Push Notifications service provides a unified push service to send real-time notifications to mobile devices. The Push Notifications Android SDK enables Android apps to receive the sent push notifications.

Ensure that you go through IBM Cloud Push Notifications service documentation before you start.

Contents

• Prerequisites
• Installation
• Initialize SDK
  • Include client Push SDK with Gradle
  • Include core SDK and Push SDK
• Register for notifications
  • Receiving notifications
  • Unregistering from notifications
• Push Notifications service tags
  • Retrieve tags
  • Subscribe to tags
  • Retrieve subscribed tags
  • Unsubscribe from tags
• Notification options
  • Interactive notifications
  • Adding custom DeviceId for registration
  • Advanced options
  • Holding notifications
• Monitoring
  • Listening to the DISMISSED status
• API documentation
• Samples and videos

Prerequisites

• IBM Cloud Push Notifications Android Client SDK package
• Android API level 14 or later
• Android 4.0 or later
• Android Studio
• Gradle
• Android helloPush sample app
• BMSCore
• BMSPush SDKs installed by using either Android Studio or Gradle

Installation

Choose to integrate the Push Notifications Android Client SDK package using either of the following options:

• Download and import the package to your Android Studio project
• Get the package through Gradle

Initialize SDK

Ensure that you have gone through Configuring credentials for a notification provider to setup the FCM project and obtain your credentials.

Include client Push SDK with Gradle

Configure the Module level build.gradle and Project level build.gradle files.

1. Add the following dependencies to your Project level build.gradle file.

   buildscript {
      repositories {
      	jcenter()
      	maven { url 'https://maven.google.com' }
          google()
      }
      dependencies {
      	classpath 'com.android.tools.build:gradle:3.4.1'
          classpath 'com.google.gms:google-services:4.3.2'
      }
   }
   
   allprojects {
      repositories {
      	jcenter()
      	maven { url 'https://maven.google.com' }
          google()
      }
   }
   

2. Add IBM Cloud Push Notifications Android SDK dependency to your Module level build.gradle file.

   dependencies {
   	........
   	implementation 'com.google.firebase:firebase-messaging:20.0.0'
       implementation 'com.ibm.mobilefirstplatform.clientsdk.android:core:3.+'
   	.......
   }
   

   Note: Use the latest build tools (API 26).

3. Add the Google Play services dependency to your Module level build.gradle file at the end, after the dependencies{.....}:

   apply plugin: 'com.google.gms.google-services'
   

4. Configure the AndroidManifest.xml file. Refer the example here. Add the following permissions inside application's AndroidManifest.xml file.

   <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.INTERNET"/>
   <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_WIFI_STATE"/>
   <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.WAKE_LOCK" />
   

5. Add the notification intent settings for the activity. This setting starts the application when the user clicks the received notification from the notification area.

    <intent-filter>
    <action android:name="Your_Android_Package_Name.IBMPushNotification"/>
    <category  android:name="android.intent.category.DEFAULT"/>
    	</intent-filter>
   

   Note: Replace Your_Android_Package_Name in the previous action with the application package name used in your application.

6. Update the Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM) or Google Cloud Messaging (GCM) intent service and intent filters for the RECEIVE and REGISTRATION event notifications:

   <service android:name="com.ibm.mobilefirstplatform.clientsdk.android.push.api.MFPPushIntentService"
    android:exported="true" >
    <intent-filter>
        <action android:name="com.google.firebase.MESSAGING_EVENT" />
    </intent-filter>
   </service>
   <service
   android:name="com.ibm.mobilefirstplatform.clientsdk.android.push.api.MFPPush"android:exported="true" >
   <intent-filter>
      <action android:name="com.google.firebase.INSTANCE_ID_EVENT" />
   </intent-filter>
   </service>
   

7. Push Notifications service supports retrieval of individual notifications from the notification tray. For notifications accessed from the notification tray, you are provided with a handle only to the notification that is being clicked. All notifications are displayed when the application is opened normally. Update your AndroidManifest.xml file with the following snippet to use this functionality:

   <activity android:name="com.ibm.mobilefirstplatform.clientsdk.android.push.api.MFPPushNotificationHandler"
      android:theme="@android:style/Theme.NoDisplay"/>
   

8. Add the google-services.json in Android application module root directory. For more information on how to add this file, see Setup the Push client SDK on FCM.

Include core SDK and Push SDK

A common place to put the initialization code is the onCreate() method of the main activity in your Android application:

// Initialize the SDK
BMSClient.getInstance().initialize(this, "ibmCloudRegionSuffix");
//Initialize client Push SDK

MFPPush push = MFPPush.getInstance();
push.initialize(getApplicationContext(), "appGUID", "clientSecret");

Where ibmCloudRegionSuffix specifies the location where the app is hosted. You can use any of the following values:

• BMSClient.REGION_US_SOUTH
• BMSClient.REGION_UK
• BMSClient.REGION_SYDNEY
• BMSClient.REGION_GERMANY
• BMSClient.REGION_US_EAST
• BMSClient.REGION_TOKYO

The appGUID is the push app GUID value, while clientSecret is the push client secret value.

Register for notifications

Use the MFPPush.register() API to register the device with Push Notifications service.

The following options are supported:

• Register without userId:

   //Register Android devices
   push.registerDevice(new MFPPushResponseListener<String>() {
   	
   	@Override
   	public void onSuccess(String response) {
   	   //handle successful device registration here
   	}
  
   	@Override
   	public void onFailure(MFPPushException ex) {
   	   //handle failure in device registration here
   	}
   });
  

• Register with UserId. For userId based notification, the register method will accept one more parameter - userId.

   // Register the device to Push Notifications
   push.registerDeviceWithUserId("userId",new MFPPushResponseListener<String>() {
   	
   	@Override	
   	public void onSuccess(String response) {
   		//handle successful device registration here
   	}
  
   	@Override	
   	public void onFailure(MFPPushException ex) {
   		//handle failure in device registration here
   	}
   });
  

The userId is used to pass the unique userId value for registering for Push Notifications. If the userId is provided, ensure that the the client secret value is also provided.

Receiving notifications

To register the notificationListener object with Push Notifications service, use the MFPPush.listen() method. This method is typically called from the onResume() and onPause() methods of the activity that is handling push notifications.

//Handles the notification when it arrives
MFPPushNotificationListener notificationListener = new MFPPushNotificationListener() {
	
	@Override
	public void onReceive (final MFPSimplePushNotification message){
      // Handle Push Notification
    }	
};

@Override
protected void onResume(){
    super.onResume();
    if(push != null) {
      push.listen(notificationListener);
    }
}

@Override
protected void onPause() {
	super.onPause();
	if (push != null) {
		push.hold();
	}
}

Unregistering from notifications

Use the following code snippets to un-register from Push Notifications.

push.unregister(new MFPPushResponseListener<String>() {
	
	@Override
	public void onSuccess(String s) {
		// Handle success
	}

	@Override
	public void onFailure(MFPPushException e) {
		// Handle Failure
	}
});

Note: To unregister from the UserId based registration, you have to call the registration method. See the Register without userId option in Register for notifications.

Push Notifications service tags

Retrieve tags

The getTags API returns the list of available tags to which the device can subscribe. After subscribing to a particular tag, the device can receive notifications that are sent for that tag. Call the push service to get subscriptions for a tag.

Add the following code snippet to your mobile application to get a list of available tags to which the device can subscribe.

// Get a list of available tags to which the device can subscribe
push.getTags(new MFPPushResponseListener<List<String>>(){  
	
	@Override
	public void onSuccess(List<String> tags){
		System.out.println("Available tags are: "+tags);
	}  
	  
	@Override    
	public void onFailure(MFPPushException ex){
		System.out.println("Error getting available tags.. " + ex.getMessage());
	}
})

Subscribe to tags

The subscribe API will subscribe the device for the list of given tags. After the device is subscribed to a particular tag, the device can receive notifications that are sent for that tag.

Add the following code snippet to your Swift mobile application to subscribe to a list of tags.

// Subscribe to the given tag
push.subscribe(allTags.get(0), new MFPPushResponseListener<String>() {
	
	@Override
	public void onSuccess(String arg) {
		System.out.println("Succesfully Subscribed to: "+ arg);
	}

	@Override
	public void onFailure(MFPPushException ex) {
		System.out.println("Error subscribing to Tag1.." + ex.getMessage());
	}
});

Retrieve subscribed tags

The getSubscriptions API will return the list of tags to which the device is subscribed. Use the following code snippets in the mobile application to get the subscription list.

// Get a list of tags that to which the device is subscribed.
push.getSubscriptions(new MFPPushResponseListener<List<String>>() {
	
	@Override
	public void onSuccess(List<String> tags) {
		System.out.println("Subscribed tags are: "+tags);
	}

	@Override
	public void onFailure(MFPPushException ex) {
		System.out.println("Error getting subscriptions.. " + ex.getMessage());
	}
})

Unsubscribe from tags

The unsubscribeFromTags API will remove the device subscription from the list tags. Use the following code snippets to allow your devices to get unsubscribe from a tag.

// unsubscibe from the given tag ,that to which the device is subscribed.
push.unsubscribe(tag, new MFPPushResponseListener<String>() {
	
	@Override
	public void onSuccess(String s) {
		System.out.println("Successfully unsubscribed from tag . "+ tag);
	}

	@Override
	public void onFailure(MFPPushException e) {
		System.out.println("Error while unsubscribing from tags. "+ e.getMessage());
	}	
});

Notification options

The following notification options are supported.

Interactive notifications

1. To enable interactive push notifications, the notification action parameters must be passed in as part of the notification object. The following is a sample code to enable interactive notifications:

	MFPPushNotificationOptions options = new MFPPushNotificationOptions();
	MFPPushNotificationButton acceptButton = new MFPPushNotificationButton.Builder("Accept Button")
      .setIcon("check_circle_icon")
      .setLabel("Accept")
      .build();
	MFPPushNotificationButton declineButton = new MFPPushNotificationButton.Builder("Decline Button")
      .setIcon("extension_circle_icon")
      .setLabel("Decline")
      .build();
	MFPPushNotificationButton viewButton = new MFPPushNotificationButton.Builder("View Button")
              .setIcon("extension_circle_icon")
              .setLabel("view")
              .build();
	List<MFPPushNotificationButton> buttonGroup_1 =  new ArrayList<MFPPushNotificationButton>();
	getButtons.add(acceptButton);
	getButtons.add(declineButton);
	getButtons.add(viewButton);
	List<MFPPushNotificationButton> buttonGroup_2 =  new ArrayList<MFPPushNotificationButton>();
	getButtons1.add(acceptButton);
	getButtons1.add(declineButton);
	List<MFPPushNotificationButton> buttonGroup_3 =  new ArrayList<MFPPushNotificationButton>();
	getButtons2.add(acceptButton);
	MFPPushNotificationCategory category = new MFPPushNotificationCategory.Builder("First_Button_Group1").setButtons(buttonGroup_1).build();
	MFPPushNotificationCategory category1 = new MFPPushNotificationCategory.Builder("First_Button_Group2").setButtons(buttonGroup_2).build();
	MFPPushNotificationCategory category2 = new MFPPushNotificationCategory.Builder("First_Button_Group3").setButtons(buttonGroup_3).build();
	List<MFPPushNotificationCategory> categoryList =  new ArrayList<MFPPushNotificationCategory>();
	categoryList.add(category);
	categoryList.add(category1);
	categoryList.add(category2);
	options.setInteractiveNotificationCategories(categoryList);
	push = MFPPush.getInstance();
	push.initialize(getApplicationContext(),"appGUID", "clientSecret",options);

2. To handle the interactive notifications by identifying which action is clicked, follow the method:

	notificationListener = new MFPPushNotificationListener() {
    @Override
    public void onReceive(final MFPSimplePushNotification message) {
        if (message.actionName.equals("Accept Button")){
           System.out.print("Clicked Accept Action");
       }else if (message.actionName.equals("Decline Button")){
           System.out.print("Clicked Decline Action");
       }else if (message.actionName.equals("View Button")){
           System.out.print("Clicked View Action");
	       }
	    }
		};

This callback method is invoked when user clicks the action button.

Adding custom DeviceId for registration

To send DeviceId use the setDeviceId method of MFPPushNotificationOptions class.

	MFPPushNotificationOptions options = new MFPPushNotificationOptions();
	options.setDeviceid("YOUR_DEVICE_ID");

Note: Remember to keep custom DeviceId unique for each device.

Advanced options

You can choose to specify a ring-tone for your notifications. To specify a ring-tone, complete the following steps:

1. Create a folder named raw in the res directory of your android application and add the ring-tone files to that folder.
2. Specify the ring-tone file name when you send notification from IBM Cloud Push Notifications dashboard.

Holding notifications

When your application goes into background, you might want Push Notifications to hold back notifications sent to your application. To hold notifications, call the hold() method in the onPause() method of the activity that is handling Push Notifications.

	@Override
	protected void onPause() {
    	super.onPause();
	    if (push != null) {
    	    push.hold();
    	}
	}

Monitoring

To monitor the current status of the notification within the application, you can implement the com.ibm.mobilefirstplatform.clientsdk.android.push.api.MFPPushNotificationStatusListener interface and define the method onStatusChange(String messageId, MFPPushNotificationStatus status).

The messageId is the identifier of the message sent from the server. MFPPushNotificationStatus defines the status of the notifications as values,

• RECEIVED - App has received the notification.

• QUEUED - App queues the notification for invoking the notification listener.

• OPENED - User opens the notification by clicking the notification in the tray or by launching it from app icon or when the app is in foreground.

• DISMISSED - User clears/dismisses the notification in the tray.

You need to register the com.ibm.mobilefirstplatform.clientsdk.android.push.api.MFPPushNotificationStatusListener class with MFPPush.

	push.setNotificationStatusListener(new MFPPushNotificationStatusListener() {
		@Override
		public void onStatusChange(String messageId, MFPPushNotificationStatus status) {
		// Handle status change
		}
	});

Listening to the DISMISSED status

You can choose to listen to the DISMISSED status on either of the following conditions:

• When the app is active (running in foreground or background). Add the snippet to your AndroidManifest.xml file:

	<receiver android:name="com.ibm.mobilefirstplatform.clientsdk.android.push.api.MFPPushNotificationDismissHandler">
		<intent-filter>
	<action android:name="Your_Android_Package_Name.Cancel_IBMPushNotification"/>
		</intent-filter>
   	</receiver>

• When the app is both active (running in foreground or background) and not running (closed). Extend the com.ibm.mobilefirstplatform.clientsdk.android.push.api.MFPPushNotificationDismissHandler broadcast receiver and override the method onReceive(), where the MFPPushNotificationStatusListener should be registered before calling method onReceive() of the base class:

	public class MyDismissHandler extends MFPPushNotificationDismissHandler {
		
		@Override
		public void onReceive(Context context, Intent intent) {
			MFPPush.getInstance().setNotificationStatusListener(new MFPPushNotificationStatusListener() {
				@Override
				public void onStatusChange(String messageId, MFPPushNotificationStatus status) {
					// Handle status change
				}
			});
			super.onReceive(context, intent);
		}
	}

Add the following snippet to you AndroidManifest.xml file:

	<receiver android:name="Your_Android_Package_Name.Your_Handler">
	<intent-filter>
	    <action android:name="Your_Android_Package_Name.Cancel_IBMPushNotification"/>
	</intent-filter>
	</receiver>

Multidex support prior to Android 5.0

Versions of the platform prior to Android 5.0 (API level 21) use the Dalvik runtime for executing app code.

1. Add the following in your gradle file,

android {
...
   defaultConfig{
    ....
      multiDexEnabled true
    ....
   }
...
}
...
dependencies {
  .....
  compile 'com.android.support:multidex:1.0.1'
  ....
}

2. In the manifest.xml file add teh following,

<application 
    android:name="android.support.multidex.MultiDexApplication"

API documentation

Find the API documentation here - https://www.javadoc.io/doc/com.ibm.mobilefirstplatform.clientsdk.android/push/latest/index.html

Samples and videos

• For samples, visit - Github Sample

• For video tutorials, visit - IBM Cloud Push Notifications

Learning More

• Visit the IBM Cloud Developers Community.

• Getting started with IBM MobileFirst Platform for iOS

Connect with IBM Cloud

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Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at

http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0

Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations under the License.